X Factor: 5 Stocks Reaching Their Ex-Dividend Date on July 10

MFA Financial, Potash Corporation, and Yum! Brands are on the list.

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Many stocks will reach their ex-dividend date next Wednesday, which is significant for investors as the seller of the stock on that date, not the buyer, receives the most recent dividend.

A stock must be bought one day before the ex-dividend date to claim any dividends that have been announced but not yet paid. The company determines on the record date, which usually occurs two days after the ex-dividend date, which shareholders qualify for the dividend. Shareholders listed as holders of record after the record date then receive their dividend on the date of payment established by the company. Those purchasing right before the record date forfeit the dividend and normally get the stock for a reduced amount.

It may seem an anachronism in this era of high frequency trading, but the dividend rate rules are in force since it can still take up to three business days for transactions to be credited to and settled in an investor's account.

Below are five stocks that schedule July 10 as their ex-dividend date. All annual yields are estimated.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) yields 10.44% annually and has a market cap of $3.03 billion. The real estate investment trust, or REIT, will pay a quarterly dividend of $0.22 on July 31, and the quarterly yield will be 2.6% based on yesterday's closing price of $8.45. The REIT has paid a quarterly dividend since 1998.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) yields 1.91% annually and has a market cap of $31.52 billion. The global quick-service restaurants operator will pay a quarterly dividend of $0.335 on August 2, and the quarterly yield of the dividend will be 0.48% based on yesterday's closing price of $70.10. The company has paid a quarterly dividend since 2004, and each payment has either increased or remained the same from the prior quarter.